Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan failed to find a place in the India A team against South Africa. Sarfaraz, who has been doing well with the Rohit Sharma-led Indian Test team, has now been left out for the tournaments as well.
The lack of selection puzzled many cricket fans in India as they questioned the absence of the Mumbai batter, who has never looked completely out of sorts in his recent outings. In fact, Sarfaraz has scores of 92 (vs ENG Lions), 42 and 32 (vs J&K) in his last two first-class matches, which should hopefully be good enough to make the A team.
Sarfaraz was earlier dropped from India’s Test following their disastrous home series against New Zealand. Sarfaraz scored a blistering 150 in the opening Test match in Bengaluru, but was out for the rest of the series.
The bat was dropped from the side due to fitness issues. During the 2025 Indian Premier League season, he cut his hair with intense training in hopes of making a comeback to the Indian team. However, the call back never came.
Explaining the insult ahead of the Test series against England, national selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar said Karun Nair skipped the bat after scoring a lot of runs in the Ranji season.
After Karun Nair’s tenure in the Indian team came to an end after the England tour, there were renewed rumors of Sarfaraz’s comeback. However, the call back never came. As questions mounted over Sarfaraz’s exclusion, Agarkar clarified that the batsman had a quadriceps injury and was not in contention for the side.
However, despite playing in the first round of the Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz did not earn a call back to the A team.
India announced Squad vs South Africa
Rishabh Pant returned to red-ball cricket after a long injury lay-off as India announced their A squad for the South Africa series. South Africa will travel to India for a two-match series in November, before playing two warm-up matches against India A.
India Squad for First Four-Day Match: Rishabh Pant (captain) (goalkeeper), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (goalkeeper), Sai Sudharsan (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Jayin Badoni, Saransh Jayin Badoni.
India Squad for Second Four-Day Match: Rishabh Pant (captain) (goalkeeper), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (goalkeeper), Sai Sudharsan (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu, Praias E Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
October 21, 2025
